


split the night wide open

by 27tattoos



Series: skamverse [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: ?? feelings ??, Alternate Universe, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Pining, skam au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 15:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21147818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27tattoos/pseuds/27tattoos
Summary: Renjun's never felt this way about another boy - when he's around him, he's always holding his breath.or: the pool scene from skam season three





	split the night wide open

**Author's Note:**

> this is part one of!! i have no idea aksdfj the postings in this verse will be random and scattered throughout the three seasons (minus four) and probably very slow - i'll try to update as often as i can!
> 
> try and guess what the other character assignments will be - i'd love to hear them :)

It's October. Almost Halloween. The chill night air burns Renjun's lungs as they run to the street and sloppily climb onto Jaemin's bike, giggling as the bike sways while Jaemin finds his footing and pace. But once they're going along nicely - Jaemin laughing loudly in front as he talks nonsense about the things they pass, and Renjun's given time to just stare at his face every time he looks back with red cheeks and a split smile - there's something else burning in his chest.

He thinks of how sourly Jaemin had asked Yeji to step off of him, how frigid the silence had been after. He thinks of the flood of relief he felt once Yeji and Yuna left to go to the bathroom, taking half the tension with them. He thinks of Jaemin's sudden, serious turn to him, the spark in his eye as he asked him to leave with him - _to anywhere,_ he remembers sharply, because in his head he'd finished it off with _anywhere with you._ He thinks of how much something has been building between them, their glances and almost touches and weighted dialogue, straining and almost coming to a close last Friday, when he'd felt Jaemin's breath on his lips.

He watches Jaemin bike them through the starry town with a laugh louder than he's ever heard from him, and he wants to snuff the tiny bit of hope he feels stirring it in his chest out now before it has time to catch and build into something that will only turn into disappointment, again. But he thinks of all this, and he can't help the way he privately lets the flames fan anyway, prepared to be disappointed later if it means he can be hopeful now about the boy in front of him.

Renjun's hands fly forward without thinking when they come to a sudden stop, gripping Jaemin's arms to keep himself steady. He looks quizzically at his face, wondering what's made him stop, and finds him staring at a house to their side. There’s something building in his eyes, a wall of mischief behind it.

"Feel like going for a swim?" Jaemin asks him, stepping off the bike and beginning to walk towards the house.

"Huh?" Renjun says, furrowing his eyebrows - it seems to be a trend in their relationship, Jaemin doing something confusing and leaving him for dust after. Jaemin only looks back and waves, his ridiculous beard swinging on his face, and tells him to _"cmon!”_ and - Renjun follows him, like he always will. The bike crashes to the ground and starts spinning where Renjun leaves it.

He catches up to Jaemin, and is again met with utter confusion - he's bent down at a window to the house's basement, trying to jimmy it open with a card. "Uh? Whose house is this?" Renjun asks with a bit of a hiss, something anxious clawing in his chest.

"My aunt's," Jaemin replies smoothly, paying Renjun no mind as he keeps working the window open. "She's on vacation."

Renjun hums, his eyebrows furrowing once again, his lips pressing together in disbelief. "Then... why don't you have a key?"

"Because she's on vacation," Jaemin says again, chuckling this time, and Renjun, despite himself, laughs with him. The anxious feeling lightens in his chest, making room for the little flickering flame - he figures that someway, somehow, even if something bad happens, the fact that it will happen with _Jaemin_ makes him, almost... not even mind.

"That seems to be the answer for everything," Renjun hums, relaxed now, wearing a faint amused smile. Jaemin finally breaks through the windows and swings them open, telling Renjun “cmon!” once more with an excited gleam in his eye before climbing through into the house, and Renjun is helpless to his lead.

Renjun easily slides through the window that cramped up Jaemin, landing airily on his feet. He's met with the almost blinding light of the pool, the sloshing blue water reflecting onto the clean and bare white walls, making the whole room seem like it's a pool itself. He blinks his eyes to adjust and looks down at Jaemin dipping his fingers into the water, testing its temperature, before he stands up and begins to take himself out of his costume. Panic freezes Renjun to the spot.

"Why are you so scared?" Jaemin laughs, finally taking that stupid beard off his face and tossing it to the side, and Renjun begs his brain to stop its lagging and respond. He splutters, and mechanically begins to take off his own clothes, tossing the sash and the golden crown in the same heap as Jaemin's clothes.

"I'm not _scared,_ I'm just -"

"Are you afraid of the water, is that it?" Jaemin asks him mischievously, lifting the white robe off his body, leaving him in a white shirt and shorts. Renjun is fighting a war in his head - he doesn't know which will be worse, Jaemin taking his shirt off for Renjun to see, or staying clothed and leaving Renjun to suffer with his imagination only.

"Afraid of the water!?" Renjun manages to get out, but it's with a squeak, and he clears his throat embarrassingly after.

Jaemin smirks, seemingly pleased to have found something he can tease him for. "You must be afraid of the water, what else am I supposed to think?"

And Renjun is hit with a brilliant little idea, the lights behind his eyes flashing - a way to both shut Jaemin up and stop him from his agonizing course of taking off his clothes. He straightens up and grins, before he shoves him into the pool, but - in his enthusiasm, he trips and falls in along with him.

The water is cold and Renjun can feel the shock going up his spine when he's fully submerged, his clothes weighing him down and trapping the cold even harsher against his skin. He pops up with his teeth chattering, wiping the water from his eyes, and he's annoyed - but not really - to hear Jaemin's dumb fucking laugh ringing in his ears.

"Smart move back there," Jaemin teases, and Renjun wants to bite back an immediate retort but - he's too distracted by how cutely his wet hair curls around his ears, how it's ruffled at the top, how water droplets drip from his chin. Attraction curls guiltily in his gut and he pushes it down, swallowing, quickly trying to paste a smile on his face.

"I had to find some way to shut you up," is all Renjun is able to come up with, the honest truth. Luckily Jaemin finds it amusing, the water trickling around him where he's treading.

"It's funny that you think a little water could've stopped me. You suck at holding your breath, by the way."

He laughs again but Renjun is so charmed by it, by their easy banter and his handsome face and the way he can feel the water moving around them as they keep themselves afloat together, as if they've fallen into a whirlpool. Anxiety and guilt and tension are still there, like they always are, stiffening him up, making his bones feel tighter. But Jaemin's laugh makes him feel so at ease, soothes some of the traction, and his chest opens up a bit wider. He splits into a smile.

"Oh, fuck you, you're the one that sucks at holding your breath!" Renjun says back easily, the brightness of Jaemin’s smile matching his.

Jaemin raises his eyebrows. “Let’s do it together then and settle this now,” he suggests, back with that gleam in his eye, and Renjun’s own eyes feel like a doe caught in headlights. He licks his lips of the water clinging to them to steady himself, before he agrees. 

“On three then?” he asks, lifting his hand to hold up the same amount on his fingers, and Jaemin nods his assent.

“On three,” and he plugs his nose, and they count together before diving down, the cold plunging over Renjun once again.

Once he's under and opened his eyes, he's surprised to find that somehow, it all feels the same - the same color, the same brightness, the same weight surrounding him, the same boy across from him wearing the same look on his face. They can only stare at each other, words unavailable underwater, and Renjun finds himself scanning over Jaemin's features, more openly than he's ever been able to before. A small smile lifts his face.

Jaemin is staring back at him with as much intensity, and Renjun feels the flames flare up inside him, his body moving for anticipation - but he figures nothing can be done while they're underwater, so he's safe. When Jaemin moves forward a little, Renjun breaks into a smirk, thinking _really, he's already given up now... winning was much easier than I thought it would be._ But then - Jaemin springs forward and plants a light kiss on his lips, and Renjun recoils back in shock, losing control of himself and floating up to the surface.

His blood is rushing through his ears when he's up, and he scrubs his face of the water, desperately wanting to open his eyes and see the world after he's been kissed by a boy to make sure it's all the same, that nobody is playing a sick prank on him. He blinks and Jaemin is in front of him again, pumping his fist into the air with a victorious "yes!", and Renjun is too giddy to think properly.

"Yes?" he demands, and he knows his voice is too loud but it's like he can't stop himself, everything in his brain shouting _he kissed you! he fucking kissed you!_ and leaving absolutely no room for critical thinking.

"I won!" Jaemin cries smugly, and his smile is the widest Renjun has ever seen it, and he knows, he just knows, that Jaemin is feeling the same elated thundering in his chest as he is. He can feel it in their movements through the water.

"You didn't win, that was cheating!" Renjun cries back, smiling so hard it reaches his eyes. They swirl around each other in the water, switching positions, giggling and bantering back and forth before Jaemin suggests they go again.

Renjun feels another flash of excitement, this time all the way down to his toes. "Okay, but no cheating this time!" he says, raising a stern finger, and Jaemin holds his hands back in surrender, accepting the conditions. They count to three and go under again, the water a familiar, comforting weight this time, a place that Renjun knows is secure. Is safe.

He stares at Jaemin for a few seconds only, letting his nerve build up, before _he_ shifts forward and kisses him this time, more purposeful, more skilled, more gentle. His head whites out when their lips press together, his head not even saying _Jaemin Jaemin Jaemin_ like he thought it would be - he's body only, everything zeroed down to the press of his lips against his, so lost he can barely feel them drifting up together and breaking through the surface, both gasping for breath.

Renjun winds his hands into Jaemin's hair the second they're free, cradling his face, holding him as close as possible, and he doesn't feel a bit of the coldness of the water anymore when he feels Jaemin do the same to him. They kiss, and kiss again, and kiss again, mouths constantly moving forward to make up for the loss when they break apart. Renjun feels his nose accidentally squish awkwardly against Jaemin's but he doesn't care, not at all, too high on the feeling of this - of _kissing,_ actually kissing, actually wanting to lean forward and kiss someone back.

He feels like he's been born again.

Jaemin is the first to pull away, looking into his eyes, trying to convey his happiness and euphoria and exhilaration and give it all to him. Renjun's trying to do the same but all he can do is stare at him in wonder, mesmerized. He really is a deer caught in his headlights, but he knows now that he never had to be afraid, because it was Jaemin there to help him take the fall.

Renjun looks back down at his lips, a wave of longing trembling through him, and he leans forward to kiss him again but Jaemin turns at the last second and Renjun is met with the wet skin of his cheek. His brow furrows, puzzled, and he opens his eyes to see what's wrong and - a little girl is standing at the edge of the pool, staring at them, and they can only stare back, neither of them not quite knowing what the fuck to do.

But then the girl screams for _"mama!"_ and Jaemin turns back to Renjun with wide eyes, muttering "fuck fuck fuck" while he backs away and turns around, swimming to pull himself out of the pool.

"What the fuck!?" Renjun shrieks, following in his wake, and they both drench the floor as they're clambering to get themselves out.

"Uh, it isn't my aunt's house," Jaemin says, and at least he has the good sense to be sheepish, a red blush rising on his cheeks as he gathers up his clothes. Renjun has half a mind to smack him on the head but he's too frantic to join his efforts in gathering up their things, easily letting Jaemin give him a boost to climb up and out of the window.

He quickly reaches back to give Jaemin his hands and pull him up and out too, and then they're scrambling across the lawn, barefooted, Jaemin picking up his bike and rushing to get on.

"Hurry Renjun hurry, I think they might be coming out," Jaemin whispers in a hiss, keeping his shoulders square for Renjun to keep ahold of as he starts pedaling, his legs pumping frantically to get away.

Once they're at a safe distance, Jaemin's legs tiring out and slowing down his pace, then Renjun can find it within himself to laugh. He can't believe how lucky he is. To have escaped breaking into someone's house, to have gotten away in time, to have gotten his first kiss tonight from a beautiful boy... he feels like a victor of the world, like finally, finally, after all the shit life has put him through, it was all in anticipation for this.

He can feel Jaemin relaxing under his hands too, the bliss setting in, and his pace turns to something dreamy as they drift together through the streets. Renjun leans forward and wraps his arms around Jaemin's waist, tucking his face against his back, and he offers up a smile to the world passing by in a blur before closing his eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](https://autumnhyuck.tumblr.com) and [my cc](https://curiouscat.me/suncheng) !!


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